Touch the Soil News #1176 (Feature photo – Self-Ordering Kiosks – CCA SA 4.0 International) Food ordering apps and kiosks where you can order and pay are becoming the norm at McDonalds and other places. The other day, while visiting a new McDonalds, arriving guests were escorted to the kiosks. Politely avoiding the kiosks I went to a real person willing to take my order. Interestingly, most people standing at the kiosks were taking two to three times longer than it took me to get my order in. Things were no more speedy for the occasional car waiting outside to have their “app” order delivered to their car. Phil Lempert…

Touch the Soil News #1175 (Feature photo – Indigenous Farm in Tanzania – CCA SA 4.0 International) Many powerful corporations have exploited indigenous lands and people. They exploited third-world nations’ lack of land ownership documentation to steal and exploit. The story has been repeated countless times around the globe as local folks, their land, and their livelihoods are targeted by large corporations and large banks. Finally, a group of Tanzanian farmers have found a way to fight back. Almost 10 years after losing their land, they won it back – thanks to the detail work of documenting occupation, location, legal description and public recording. You can read the full story…

Positive Future #310 (Feature photo – New Flyer 60 Foot Articulated Electric Bus – courtesy of New Flyer Inc.) New Flyer Inc. is the first bus company to have its 60-foot electric bus complete the Federal Transit Administration’s Model Bus Testing Program in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The new zero-emission buses can carry up to 132 passengers. Being able to pass the FTA tests, means that the U.S. may see more of these buses in major cities. You can read the full story here: https://insideevs.com/new-flyer-altoona-tested-electric-bus/ Want More? – Sign up below Special Deals Ahead…Sign up!

Positive Future #309 (Feature photo – Urban Smog – public domain U.S. CDC) A new look by the World Health Organization (WHO) at air pollution reveals a striking reality. Around 93 percent of the world’s children under the age of 15 (1.8 billion children), breathe air that is so polluted it puts their health and development at serious risk. While this statistic is disturbing, all positive change comes when a problem is acknowledged and replaced with a solution. This assessment raises the question? Is the right to clean air a basic inalienable right? The WHO has just convened the first international conference on global air pollution that allows nations and…

Positive Future #308 (Feature photo – Water – Public Domain U.S. Air Force Photo) Baltimore Maryland is a large city (population 620,000) that is part of a much larger urban metro area of some 10 million people that includes Washington, D.C. Baltimore is unique in that it is an independent city and stands on its own without being part of any county. Baltimore just made news when its citizens passed a resolution (recent elections) that prohibits the city from ever privatizing its water and sewer systems – the first in America for a city of this size and stature. Almost 77 percent of voters voted in favor of having only…

Touch the Soil News #1174 (Feature photo – Rabobank Headquarters in the Netherlands – CCA SA 4.0 International) Experts from the world’s largest agricultural bank – Rabobank – have a rather dry conversation about the outlook for agriculture in 2019. However, as bankers, they try to stay away from politics. Concerns over the trade wars between the U.S. and China has become a driving force of uncertainty. Of particular concern is the future for American farmers. As China backs away from U.S. Soybean purchases, it is not unlikely that financial losses can visit America’s heartland. A small note is made about the African Swine Fever erupting in China. There has…

Touch the Soil News #1173 (Feature photo – American Farmland – Public Domain) The USDA tracks the value of American cropland – that is land used for crops, not livestock pasture. In their latest report of August 2018, the average value of an acre of cropland grew from $1,750 in 2004 to $4,130 in 2018. This equates to an average increase of 5 percent a year. All of this, as land is sold and traded, adds to the increase of the cost of food. Has the value of our purchasing power (income) gone up by 5 percent a year? Said in another way, have our incomes (since 2004) gone up…

Phil Lempert (https://www.supermarketguru.com/) delves into what group of consumers waste the most food. Global food loss is estimated at one-third to one-half of all food produced globally. This occurs on the farm, through processing, loss at the retail level and finally food-waste at home/restaurant. The large scope of food waste has now become an international issue as the world tries to cope with declining sources of fresh water to raise food and loss of rainforests to add new farmland. What do you think? Want More? – Sign up below Special Deals Ahead…Sign up!